More Trade News in Brief Week 26 (24 – 30 June 2013)

 

* Croatia – Welcomed to EU

 

On Monday 1 July Croatia will become the 28th Member State of the European Union.

 

For more information:

 

– Institutional and administrative aspects of Croatia’s EU accession MEMO/13/593

 

– Croatia’s EU accession – Q&A MEMO/13/629

 

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* 2012 Annual Review of GSP System

 

US announced today the outcome of the 2012 Annual Review under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program.

 

Check here.

 

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* World Investment Report 2013

 

UNCTAD published its 2013 World Investment Report with the latest trends in foreign direct investment (FDI).

 

Download  World Investment Report 2013

 

Read more here.

 

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* Norway the First to Sign the Hong Kong Ship Recycling Treaty

 

The Kingdom of Norway became the first contracting State to the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (2009).

 

Please follow the link.

 

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More Trade News in Brief – Week 22 (27 May – 2 June 2013)

 

* US – CARICOM Signed TIFA

 

The United States and CARICOM signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) which replace the agreement establishing a Trade and Investment Council (TIC) signed in 1991.

 

Follow the link for more.

 

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* BRICS Launched BRICSMART

 

The BRICS Exchanges Alliance launched its own website to create a single data portal containing information on its member’s financial products and services.

 

The website is called BRICSMART.

 

Kindly follow the link.

 

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* Iran – Indonesia Inked a MoU

 

Iran and Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on mutual trade cooperation.

 

Check here.

 

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* Copernicus – The EU’s Earth Observation Programme

 

The new name of the European Commission’s Earth Observation Programme, previously known as GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security), is Copernicus. The programme aims at providing Europe with a continuous, independent and reliable access to earth observation data and information.

 

Read more here.

 

More Trade News in Brief – Week 36 (27 August – 2 September 2012)

* Switzerland Adopts Several Maritime Conventions

 

Switzerland adopted four conventions developed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to enhance the protection of the marine environment.

 

Switzerland has adopted the next conventions:

 

–          Annex VI of the MARPOL Convention

–          the 2001 International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage

–          the 2004 International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments

–          and the 2011 International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships

 

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* India & Mauritius Negotiate New DTA

 

India and Mauritius have completed a further round of negotiations towards a new Double Tax Agreement (DTA).

 

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* Andorra Extends TIEA Network

 

Andorra approved the signature of new Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA) with the Czech Republic and South Korea.

 

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* WTO Statistics Database Updated

 

The World Trade Organization (WTO) updated its 2011 database on world merchandise trade.

 

Please check the Statistics Database here.

 

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* New WTO Members: Russia and Vanuatu

 

On 22 August 2012, Russia becomes the 156th WTO member and Vanuatu will join the WTO on 24 August as its 157th member.

 

More here.

 

World Still on Unsustainable Path – UN

6 June 2012

 

According to the fifth edition of the Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-5), launched on the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), from the 90 of the most important environmental goals and objectives only it has been notice a significant progress in four of them.

 

More here.

More Trade News in Brief – Week 23 (28 May – 3 June 2012)

* South Sudan Becomes 184th ILO Member State

 

25 May 2012, Geneva

 

The Republic of South Sudan accepts the obligations of the Constitution of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

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* Online Global Agro-ecological Zones Interactive Data Portal

 

25 May 2012, Rome

 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) developed an online data portal to help identifying areas for  increased global food production while maintaining natural resources base and facing the challenge of climate change.

 

The Global Agro-ecological Zones (GAEZ) Portal  seeks to enhance planners’ and decision makers’ capacity to estimate agricultural production potentials and variability under different environmental and management scenarios.

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* Swiss Votes Through Tax Deals

 

 31 May 2012

 

 The Swiss Council of States has agreed on the bilateral tax deals concluded with Germany, the UK and with Austria. The deals aimed at resolving the issue of undeclared and untaxed assets of foreign residents held in Swiss bank accounts.

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* NAFTA Industry Guide

 

Research and Markets has published the report “Apparel Retail – North America (NAFTA) Industry Guide”.

 

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* Revised Chinese VAT Pilot

 

The Beijing office of China’s State Administration of Taxation (SAT) announced to replace the existing business tax on the country’s service sector with value-added tax (VAT) from July 1^st.

 

Colombia & Mexico Join the OECD’s Multilateral Tax Pact

23 May 2012

 

Colombia has signed, and Mexico has deposited its instrument of ratification for the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters developed jointly by the OECD and the Council of Europe. The Convention is multilateral instrument available for tax co-operation and exchange of information and it helps counter cross-border tax evasion and ensures compliance with national tax laws.

 

 Colombia also adhered to:

–          the OECD’s Declaration on Propriety, Integrity, Transparency in the Conduct of International Business and Finance,

–          the OECD’s Declaration on Green Growth

–          the OECD’s Recommendation on Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas

 

More here.

More Trade News in Brief – Week 22 (21-27 May 2012)

* OECD Launches New Version of Your Better Life Index

 

22 May 2012

 

The OECD released the second year pioneering Your Better Life Index – an online, interactive index that allows people to measure and compare their lives.

 

The index permit to compare the well-being of your life based on 11 topics – housing, income, jobs, community, education, environment, governance, health, life satisfaction, safety and work-life balance.

 

For more information on the Your Better Life Index:

• Create your Better Life Index: www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org
• Read more: OECD Better Life Initiative

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* U.S. and EU Cut Aids

 

U.S. cuts aid to Pakistan by $33 million as punitive move for the physician’s 33-year sentence for high treason.

 

More details here.

 

EU’s Parliament proposed new macro-financial assistance regulation which ensure that countries close to the EU (Balkans and the Eastern Neighbourhood), will be obliged to meet stricter conditions in order to receive aids from EU.

 

Please read more here.

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* New UN Website on Sustainable Development Projects

23 May 2012

The United Nations (UN) launched a new online database to strengthen partnerships between sustainable development projects in developing countries.

For further information kindly refer to UN’s webpage.

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* Exporter Dynamics Database from World Bank

 

The World Bank release the new Exporter Dynamics Database which offers exporter characteristics in 45 developed and developing countries.

 

More here.